Have you ever had one of those days when you were gently reminded that you were doing something that you really shouldn't be doing? How did you respond? Did you respond with anger? Towards the person who pointed it out? Did you respond with blame? Toward the person whose fault that you thought it "should" be? Or did you respond with gratitude? Thanking the person who helped you to realize what you were doing was wrong? Think about it for a minute...

In Genesis 4 Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to the Lord.  God accepted Abel’s sacrifice but he did not accept Cain’s sacrifice.  However, the Lord gently reminded Cain that he did not have to be angry.  He even reminded him that if he did well that he would be accepted too.  “So the Lord said to Cain, ‘Why are you angry?  And why has your countenance fallen?  If you do well, will you not be accepted?  And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door.  And its desire is for you, but you should rule over it.”  (Genesis 4: 6-8).  Cain could have chosen to respond with gratitude and offer a more acceptable sacrifice.  However, he chose instead to let his anger get the best of him.  He allowed his feeling of anger and his thought of “rejection” by God to rule his actions.  So he went out and killed his brother Abel.

I was seeking out advice from a friend today and she gently reminded me about one of my faults that I all too often forget about!  My first response was to react in anger, like Cain!  I wanted to deny that I was doing anything wrong or that I even had a problem.  So we prayed about it together and later on I read through some scriptures and had some of my own prayer time and it become very evident to me how very right my friend was! 

We are faced with decisions like this every single day of our life.  God allows us to choose how we live our life.  He allows us to choose whether or not we are going to serve him or not. (Joshua 24:15).  So the next time you are gently reminded to “check yourself” how will you respond?  Will you respond with anger like Cain?  Or will you be thankful that you have a friend that cares enough about you to call you out on something that you are doing that isn’t right!